Jacques Nicolas Bellin

Artist Bio: Jacques Nicolas Bellin (1703-1772)

Jacques Nicolas Bellin was born in Paris. He was a French hydrographer, geographer, and member of the French intellectual group called the “philosophes”. Bellin was a member of both the Académie de Marine and the Royal Society of London. Over a 50-year career, he produced a large number of maps. His maps of Canada and of French territories in North America (New France, Acadia, Louisiana) are particularly valuable.

In 1721, Bellin was appointed Hydrographer (chief cartographer) to the French Navy. In August 1741, he became the first Ingénieur de la Marine of the Depot des cartes et plans de la Marine (the French Hydrographic Office) and was named Official Hydrographer to King Louis XV.

Under Bellin’s direction, the Depot produced a prodigious number of charts and maps among which was a large folio format atlas of sea-charts of France, the Neptune Francois. He also produced a number of sea-atlases of the world, including the Atlas Maritime and the Hydrographie Francaise. These gained fame and popularity all over Europe and were republished throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries.

Bellin set a high standard of workmanship and accuracy in his maps, which were often copied by other mapmakers. He died in Versailles.